Day 15: We'll See

 


One of the benefits of a meditation practice is that we can learn to limit the need to judge our experiences as good or bad.

We have gotten through half of our Meditation Challenge. Congratulations and bravo for your commitment! Hopefully it is getting a little easier and you are beginning to notice the benefits.

Perhaps you have noticed that we humans tend to judge our experiences. The "it's horrible" and "it's wonderful" thoughts remind me of the old Taoist story about the farmer.

An old farmer and his horse had worked the crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors said,

"Such bad luck,".

"We'll see," said the farmer.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three wild horses.

"How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.

"We'll see," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

"We'll see," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

"We'll see" said the farmer.

No matter what happened, the farmer didn't judge the experience as good or bad. He stayed open and did what needed to be done. British philosopher Alan Watts, says "the whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad, because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune. Or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.” It is in the judging that we create disappointment, expectations and suffering. I see this with the Covid pandemic. It feels pretty awful right now, but who knows what the future will bring. After the black death, came the Rennaisance. That is not to say that the repercussions of covid aren't real, sad and painful. But ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, can we know if it is good or bad? Time will tell. Meditation can help us keep an open minded perspective while being fully present and without dissociating.

I am participating in this meditation challenge with you. It now appears I started writing this blog more for myself than anyone else. Surprise, surprise! Knowing the benefits of meditation is in no way the same thing as putting in the everyday work of sitting and having it surpringly bear fruit. There is no better time than now to test that out.

We may be surprised with progress we didn't even know we were making. Keep going!

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